Idiot Moron!
You're the best, Chloe.
"How about practicing on me?"
"Huh...?"
At first, Marian couldn't quite grasp what Chloe meant. Practice was usually a rehearsal for something specific. Marian hadn't needed much practice for anything in particular, but...
She didn't think practicing swearing at someone—let alone choosing one's closest companion as the target—was a normal thing to do.
"It's better to know how to spit one out when it really counts. You're a lady, after all."
"No, but..."
The holy scriptures, compiled from the words of the Supreme God and the angels, taught that speech is a mirror of the soul. So, spewing harsh words would only prove that one's own soul was coarse. Especially if those words were aimed at another person? And that person was...
If I swear, she might lose affection for me and leave...
Someone she wanted to see every single day. Someone who was the only one by her side. An irreplaceable existence like that? She absolutely couldn't say anything bad. If she crossed that line, the affection might shatter, and they'd never come back to Marian again.
If she lost Chloe, she'd revert to being the lonely outcast from a week ago. Even Perona and Arona, whom Chloe had pinned down with her life-threatening glare, would slip back into their old ways.
So, she didn't want to swear at Chloe. But...
"Let's just try it once. You never know when you might need it for real."
"Ugh..."
Like coaxing a child, Chloe clasped Marian's hands together and shook them gently side to side, pleading with that spoiled whine. Ignoring it was simply impossible.
Just one word. Only one...
In the end, Marian had to decide. If she kept rejecting Chloe's pleas like this, Chloe might get fed up and leave anyway.
She'd grant the plea, but find the mildest swear that wouldn't disappoint...
Marian's little head spun busily.
You spawn of Satan? No, that's no good...
Surprisingly.
Succubus-blooded impure spawn from your whore mother? No, that mentions parents—might get me scolded...
Marian.
You treacherous snake-blooded wretch? No, snakes symbolize too much...
Knew a lot of swears.
Especially the religiously sanitized ones. The years spent memorizing papal scriptures for fun weren't going anywhere, and after agonizing for a good ten minutes, the one she chose was...
"Y-You...!"
"You?"
"Idiot moron! Do you know who I am?"
"Ooh..."
"I'm the Lady of Evergreen!"
Idiot moron. So soft and squishy, the kind of insult even a ten-year-old wouldn't take offense to.
And Chloe, raised for over half her life in the assassins' crucible called the Golden Darkness squad...
"How... how..."
"Ch-Chloe, it hurts..."
"Ah, sorry..."
Couldn't help but gasp in admiration, swinging Marian's tightly gripped hands up and down wildly.
It was inevitable. Imagine growing up hearing threats like "I'll kill you," "I'll break you," "I'll slice you," and then hearing something soft like "idiot moron."
You'd burst out laughing.
"Too cute, I can't..."
"C-Cute...?"
"It was too cute."
"Ugh..."
And Chloe's honest reaction was quite the stimulus for Marian.
A child who couldn't even remember her mother's face. A father she was lucky to see once a year, thanks to her position as the duke's bastard. A stepmother who looked at her like a bug, and her children. Even the maids like Arona and Perona, who exploited that position until they got their comeuppance.
"Really? Me? Cute?"
"L-Lady...?"
In truth, the reason Marian had demanded that the complete stranger Chloe call her "Lady" right off the bat was because the ladies in fairy tales were all loved for being pretty. Ladies were loved, ladies were beautiful. If she was called a lady, she'd become beautiful too, and then she'd be loved.
It was a desperate plea born of instinct. Love me, even if it's just you.
"Waaah!"
"Wh-Why are you crying...?"
And that plea had been granted. Not quite in the form she'd longed for, but she'd been praised as cute, hadn't she?
All the stray thoughts from moments ago—like "What if Chloe hates me?" or "What swear should I use?"—vanished from Marian's mind. Now, there was only Chloe.
"Am I cute, Chloe?"
She buried her face in Chloe's soft, springy, comforting bosom, tears dripping as she asked. Demanding more praise, as if to say, Call me cute more.
Wh-What's with her all of a sudden...?
Honestly, Chloe was flustered. She'd just called the clumsy swear cute, and suddenly Marian burst into tears.
She had no idea what to say in this situation...
Ah...
The silence didn't last long. She could guess why Marian reacted so intensely.
No one else has ever said anything like that to her...
Doing card tricks in front of Marian? That was Chloe. Playing with paints? Chloe. Teaching alchemy to catch thieves, making snow globes together, injecting excitement she'd never felt? Chloe. Disciplining the two maids who tormented her and making them apologize? Chloe. Praising the "idiot moron"-swearing Marian as cute? Chloe.
I'm her first for everything.
Chloe was in all of Marian's experiences, and it was natural for a child like her to thirst for adult praise...
"It's okay. It's okay."
"Chloe, Chloe..."
"So cute."
"Hug me all day today, keep calling me cute, keep going, keep..."
The dam she'd held back burst; affection-starved Marian showed symptoms, so Chloe showered her with "cute"s, hugging tight and stroking her hair.
Chloe had entered Marian's bedroom at eight in the morning, but thanks to the cycle of crying, sleeping, waking, and crying again, she couldn't get much done.
"At this rate, I'll have to make the growth potion tomorrow."
But now it was night. She figured Marian could be put down and return to her own room to prepare tomorrow's lessons.
"Don't go... no mask..."
Marian's grip, still clinging tight to Chloe's body, showed no sign of loosening.
"Aigoo..."
It was quite the predicament, but what could she do? Managing Marian's mental state was one of Chloe's assigned duties.
With a small sigh, Chloe scooped Marian up and headed to the bed. She thought lying down comfortably might loosen the hold.
She lay in bed with Marian, waiting for her to relax her grip.
"Well, how long can she hold out?"
She waited, and waited some more.
"Hmm, not letting go. Let's sleep more then. Or I can wake up early tomorrow."
And just like that, she dozed off.
"Gasp..."
Perfectly timed, Marian—who'd cried and clung all day and had no more tears left—opened her eyes the moment Chloe fell asleep.
And right before her eyes: Chloe's breasts, as big as her head, and Chloe's peacefully sleeping face.
For me, Chloe...!
She trusted Chloe wouldn't abandon her. But just in case, even after crying herself out, she'd kept waking and clinging to make sure Chloe couldn't leave...
And Chloe really hadn't gone anywhere.
"You're the best, Chloe..."
Truly, Chloe was the best. She taught amazing things, praised often, and above all, came every day.
Freshly moved by that fact, Marian hugged Chloe even tighter.
"Mm, Lady... don't cry..."
"I won't cry anymore, hehe..."
"Because I'm here..."
"Because Chloe's here."
She answered Chloe's sleep-talk faithfully, savoring her body heat fully. With another warmth added to the bedroom where she'd always slept and woken alone, it felt like the endless winter of twelve years was finally ending and spring arriving.
And the next day.
"L-Lady? I need to use the bathroom for a sec..."
"You said you wouldn't use mine?"
"It's urgent..."
During the lesson, Chloe wet herself.
Well, not exactly urine... Something sticky, with a sour scent—like a white, semi-transparent lotion—had suddenly pooled in her panties without warning.
"Wh-Why does this woman's body have so many flaws...!"
Not knowing what this sour-smelling fluid was drove Chloe mad.